I went to the Prophet
with two men from Ash-ari tribe. I said (to the Prophet), "I do not
know that they want employment." The Prophet said, "No, we do not appoint
for our jobs anybody who demands it earnestly."

The Prophet said, "Allah
did not send any prophet but shepherded sheep." His companions asked
him, "Did you do the same?" The Prophet replied, "Yes, I used to shepherd
the sheep of the people of Mecca for some Qirats."

The Prophet and Abu Bakr
employed a (pagan) man from the tribe of Bani Ad-Dail and the tribe
of Bani 'Abu bin 'Adi as a guide. He was an expert guide and he broke
the oath contract which he had to abide by with the tribe of Al-'Asi
bin Wail and he was on the religion of Quraish pagans. The Prophet and
Abu Bakr had confidence in him and gave him their riding camels and
told him to bring them to the Cave of Thaur after three days. So, he
brought them their two riding camels after three days and both of them
(The Prophet and Abu Bakr) set out accompanied by 'Amir bin Fuhaira
and the Dili guide who guided them below Mecca along the road leading
to the sea-shore.

(the wife of the Prophet)
Allah's Apostle and Abu Bakr hired a man from the tribe of Bani-Ad-Dil
as an expert guide who was a pagan (follower of the religion of the
pagans of Quraish). The Prophet and Abu Bakr gave him their two riding
camels and took a promise from him to bring their riding camels in the
morning of the third day to the Cave of Thaur.

I fought in Jaish-al-Usra
(Ghazwa of Tabuk) along with the Prophet and in my opinion that was
the best of my deeds. Then I had an employee, who quarrel led with someone
and one of the them bit and cut the other's finger and caused his own
tooth to fall out. He then went to the Prophet (with a complaint) but
the Prophet cancelled the suit and said to the complainant, "Did you
expect him to let his finger in your mouth so that you might snap and
cut it (as does a stallion camel)?"

Narrated Ibn Juraij from
Abdullah bin Abu Mulaika from his grandfather a similar story: A man
bit the hand of another man and caused his own tooth to fall out, but
Abu Bakr judged that he had no right for compensation (for the broken
tooth).

Allah's Apostle said,
"Both of them (Moses and Al-Khadir) proceeded on till they reached a
wall which was about to fall." Sa'd said, "(Al-Khadir pointed) with
his hands (towards the wall) and then raised his hands and the wall
became straightened up." Ya'la said, "I think Said said, 'He (Khadir)
passed his hand over it and it was straightened up." (Moses said to
him), "if you had wanted, you could have taken wages for it." Said said,
"Wages with which to buy food . "

The Prophet said, "Your
example and the example of the people of the two Scriptures (i.e. Jews
and Christians) is like the example of a man who employed some laborers
and asked them, 'Who will work for me from morning till midday for one
Qirat?' The Jews accepted and carried out the work. He then asked, Who
will work for me from midday up to the 'Asr prayer for one Qirat?' The
Christians accepted and fulfilled the work. He then said, 'Who will
work for me from the 'Asr till sunset for two Qirats?' You, Muslims
have accepted the offer. The Jews and the Christians got angry and said,
'Why should we work more and get lesser wages?' (Allah) said, 'Have
I with-held part of your right?' They replied in the negative. He said,
'It is My Blessing, I bestow upon whomever I wish .'

Allah's Apostle said,
"Your example and the example of Jews and Christians is like the example
of a man who employed some laborers to whom he said, 'Who will work
for me up to midday for one Qirat each?' The Jews carried out the work
for one Qirat each; and then the Christians carried out the work up
to the 'Asr prayer for one Qirat each; and now you Muslims are working
from the 'Asr prayer up to sunset for two Qirats each. The Jews and
Christians got angry and said, 'We work more and are paid less.' The
employer (Allah) asked them, 'Have I usurped some of your right?' They
replied in the negative. He said, 'That is My Blessing, I bestow upon
whomever I wish.' "

The Prophet said, "The
example of Muslims, Jews and Christians is like the example of a man
who employed laborers to work for him from morning till night for specific
wages. They worked till midday and then said, 'We do not need your money
which you have fixed for us and let whatever we have done be annulled.'
The man said to them, 'Don't quit the work, but complete the rest of
it and take your full wages.' But they refused and went away. The man
employed another batch after them and said to them, 'Complete the rest
of the day and yours will be the wages I had fixed for the first batch.'
So, they worked till the time of 'Asr prayer. Then they said, "Let what
we have done be annulled and keep the wages you have promised us for
yourself.' The man said to them, 'Complete the rest of the work, as
only a little of the day remains,' but they refused. Thereafter he employed
another batch to work for the rest of the day and they worked for the
rest of the day till the sunset, and they received the wages of the
two former batches. So, that was the example of those people (Muslims)
and the example of this light (guidance) which they have accepted willingly.

I heard Allah's Apostle
saying, "Three men from among those who were before you, set out together
till they reached a cave at night and entered it. A big rock rolled
down the mountain and closed the mouth of the cave. They said (to each
other), Nothing could save you Tom this rock but to invoke Allah by
giving referenda to the righteous deed which you have done (for Allah's
sake only).' So, one of them said, 'O Allah! I had old parents and I
never provided my family (wife, children etc.) with milk before them.
One day, by chance I was delayed, and I came late (at night) while they
had slept. I milked the sheep for them and took the milk to them, but
I found them sleeping. I disliked to provide my family with the milk
before them. I waited for them and the bowl of milk was in my hand and
I kept on waiting for them to get up till the day dawned. Then they
got up and drank the milk. O Allah! If I did that for Your Sake only,
please relieve us from our critical situation caused by this rock.'
So, the rock shifted a little but they could not get out."

The Prophet added, "The
second man said, 'O Allah! I had a cousin who was the dearest of all
people to me and I wanted to have sexual relations with her but she
refused. Later she had a hard time in a famine year and she came to
me and I gave her one-hundred-and-twenty Dinars on the condition that
she would not resist my desire, and she agreed. When I was about to
fulfill my desire, she said: It is illegal for you to outrage my chastity
except by legitimate marriage. So, I thought it a sin to have sexual
intercourse with her and left her though she was the dearest of all
the people to me, and also I left the gold I had given her. O Allah!
If I did that for Your Sake only, please relieve us from the present
calamity.' So, the rock shifted a little more but still they could not
get out from there."

The Prophet added, "Then
the third man said, 'O Allah! I employed few laborers and I paid them
their wages with the exception of one man who did not take his wages
and went away. I invested his wages and I got much property thereby.
(Then after some time) he came and said to me: O Allah's slave! Pay
me my wages. I said to him: All the camels, cows, sheep and slaves you
see, are yours. He said: O Allah's slave! Don't mock at me. I said:
I am not mocking at you. So, he took all the herd and drove them away
and left nothing. O Allah! If I did that for Your Sake only, please
relieve us from the present suffering.' So, that rock shifted completely
and they got out walking.

Whenever Allah's Apostle
ordered us to give in charity we would go to the market and work as
porters to earn a Mudd (two hand-fulls) (of foodstuff) but now some
of us have one-hundred thousand Dirhams or Diners. (The sub-narrator)
Shaqiq said, "I think Abu Mas'ud meant himself by saying (some of us)
.

Ibn 'Abbas said, "The
Prophet forbade the meeting of caravans (on the way) and ordained that
no townsman is permitted to sell things on behalf of a bedouin." I asked
Ibn 'Abbas, "What is the meaning of his saying, 'No townsman is permitted
to sell things on behalf of a bedouin.' " He replied, "He should not
work as a broker for him."

I was a blacksmith and
did some work for Al-'As bin Wail. When he owed me some money for my
work, I went to him to ask for that amount. He said, "I will not pay
you unless you disbelieve in Muhammad." I said, "By Allah! I will never
do that till you die and be resurrected." He said, "Will I be dead and
then resurrected after my death?" I said, "Yes." He said, "There I will
have property and offspring and then I will pay you your due." Then
Allah revealed. 'Have you seen him who disbelieved in Our signs, and
yet says: I will be given property and offspring?' (19.77)

Some of the companions
of the Prophet went on a journey till they reached some of the 'Arab
tribes (at night). They asked the latter to treat them as their guests
but they refused. The chief of that tribe was then bitten by a snake
(or stung by a scorpion) and they tried their best to cure him but in
vain. Some of them said (to the others), "Nothing has benefited him,
will you go to the people who resided here at night, it may be that
some of them might possess something (as treatment)," They went to the
group of the companions (of the Prophet ) and said, "Our chief has been
bitten by a snake (or stung by a scorpion) and we have tried everything
but he has not benefitted. Have you got anything (useful)?" One of them
replied, "Yes, by Allah! I can recite a Ruqya, but as you have refused
to accept us as your guests, I will not recite the Ruqya for you unless
you fix for us some wages for it." They agrees to pay them a flock of
sheep. One of them then went and recited (Suratul-Fatiha): 'All the
praises are for the Lord of the Worlds' and puffed over the chief who
became all right as if he was released from a chain, and got up and
started walking, showing no signs of sickness.

They paid them what they
agreed to pay. Some of them (i.e. the companions) then suggested to
divide their earnings among themselves, but the one who performed the
recitation said, "Do not divide them till we go to the Prophet and narrate
the whole story to him, and wait for his order." So, they went to Allah's
Apostle and narrated the story. Allah's Apostle asked, "How did you
come to know that Surat-ul-Fatiha was recited as Ruqya?" Then he added,
"You have done the right thing. Divide (what you have earned) and assign
a share for me as well." The Prophet smiled thereupon.

The Prophet sent for
a slave who had the profession of cupping, and he cupped him. The Prophet
ordered that he be paid one or two Sas, or one or two Mudds of foodstuff,
and appealed to his masters to reduce his taxes:

"Allah's Apostle gave
the land of Khaibar to the Jews to work on and cultivate and take half
of its yield. Ibn 'Umar added, "The land used to be rented for a certain
portion (of its yield)." Nafi mentioned the amount of the portion but
I forgot it. Rafi' bin Khadij said, "The Prophet forbade renting farms."
Narrated 'Ubaid-Ullah Nafi' said: Ibn 'Umar said: (The contract of Khaibar
continued) till 'Umar evacuated the Jews (from Khaibar).